Midday had strolled around, and the cloud palace was empty. It was also different than it had been earlier. The living room was unrecognizable as the furniture had been reduced to disfigured lumps. The hallway leading to the back rooms had been narrowed to a width almost unfit for even the smallest of fillies. There were plenty of holes in the fluffy ground, and piles of it were strewn about everywhere. What had happened?

The tiniest flicker of red broke the white field for a fraction of a second. Immediately, a loud cry of something akin to fury sounded from across the room as a barrage of cloud balls flew toward the disturbance. Four, five, six, and still nothing had changed. The orange hoof stopped lobbing ammunition, and its owner panicked. Scootaloo parted the clouds as quickly as she could and created another bunker to huddle down in, but she was too slow. Before she had even her second hoof-full of cloud out of the way, she was tackled from below as Rainbow sprinted out of the clouds and tossed her across the room.

"Had enough yet, squirt?" A cocky laugh followed, but it was cut short by a sudden slap of cloud right on her muzzle. She opened her eyes in surprise and tried to fly back to the ground, but she was swiftly pelted with two more shots, one hitting her neck and the other finding its mark and again crashing into her snout. She dropped to the ground and tried to wipe her eyes, but she was jumped onto and had another cloud round forced into her face. She yelled mercilessly and rolled the filly off, sending her a good yard away. She simply shook the fluff off and tried to pounce on her prey, but found herself landing only on a pile of cloud. "Huh?" She was met with yet another quick volley as she opened her eyes just a split second too late.

A half hour later, the living room was in even poorer condition. Fluff was piled up against the walls in places, and there were a few more tunnels and holes. Now the two ponies were lying on lumps of cloud near a corner, both breathing heavily. Rainbow spoke first, "You might not be the fastest filly, but you've got one hay of an eye—and an arm to go with it!" She received a smile in response and the two continued to rest.

Scootaloo wormed her way sideways and placed her head near Rainbow's chest. The mare thought nothing of it, and embraced her tightly. Man, I never thought a foal could be so much fun! I thought they were always needy and whiny. She noticed a patch of white in the splash of purple in front of her and she took it out gingerly with her teeth. Scoot felt a shiver ripple through her spine, and she involuntarily edged even closer.

They laid like that for quite a while, long past when their breathing had returned to normal. Each one's thoughts were preoccupied with how enjoyable the other's company was. Before too long, Scootaloo had fallen asleep and shortly thereafter Rainbow's eyes were drooping as well. She was drifting off, slowly. The cloud was so soft, and Scootaloo's mane smelled of —

"Nngh… I love you Rainbow… Dash."

Her eyes flew open. Had she imagined that? She was sleepy… Sh-she's just dreaming. Yeah. She didn't mean that. It was just a dream. Just a… Dream. But wait, she had imagined that! Right? So it didn't happen at all.

As if to punctuate her statement, the filly rolled over in her sleep and buried her face into Rainbow's neck with a gentle sigh of bliss.

Panic began to set in. There's no way I'm imagining all this… What do I do? She never had experience with this kind of thing. She'd never had a stallion to call her own, although there had been a few she had fancied in the past. More pressingly, she had never had a kid before. She was never into the idea of foalsitting, that was more for ponies like Fluttershy and Twilight. Ponies with maternal instincts… It was true. Rainbow had little to no ability to care so selflessly for another, and it was something she had always loathed about herself. Sure, she was the Element of Loyalty, but being depended on as a friend isn't the same at all as being depended on as a mother or sister. She had always wanted to feel those emotions, but she was never able to. But now I can! Scootaloo loves me… I can be whatever she needs!

Where before she had panicked at the thought of a filly loving her, she now rejoiced. She was filled to the brim with pride in herself, as well as glee at the prospect of being a sister. Of having a sister! While her mind was hazy with visions of sisterly love, potential scenes in every corner of Ponyville, dread started to creep back in. She didn't consciously recognize it at first. It began to manifest itself as destruction of the bond. Scootaloo tripped and hurt herself while running, Scootaloo fell out of her arms during flight, Scootaloo went missing, Scootaloo turned her nose up, Scootaloo walked away, Scootaloo pushed her back, Scootaloo shouted at her, Scootaloo thought she had ruined her life. "Aah!" She was violently jerked back into reality. She held her breath for a moment, but the filly hadn't woken up.

She stared at Scoot for quite a while. The last 'fantasy' that had flashed through her mind ended in shattered pieces when she had screamed "I hate you!" Looking into this sweet face now, she realized just how preposterous that was. She chuckled a little to herself and placed a delicate kiss on the orange muzzle. It felt good to know that she would now, finally, get a sister. All these years… As she settled down from her hallucinations, she began to focus on what it felt like to hold somepony. There was a rhythmic tickle on her collarbone from warm breath; if she paid very close attention, she could feel a soft thump-thump course through her foreleg from the temple it supported; a cute ear twitched occasionally; all of this felt right.

She registered something. Just a moment ago, she kissed the bridge of Scoot's nose. She did it without any thought. She grinned hugely to herself and her joy bubbled up into her throat in the form of a rock solid lump. It welled up and filled her skull to the brim. It was too much: It had to come out somehow, or she would explode. She inhaled with a shudder, and when she exhaled, a single tear leaked out and the joyful pressure was gone. The feeling was there still, but it was all lightness and feathers. She glanced to the side, at the ground, and saw blurrily that her tear had landed in in a curled lock of Scoot's mane. She breathed in deeply again, but now it was to draw in the heady sweetness that practically radiated from the filly in front of her.

She couldn't speak her reply, even though she knew it to be true. She was afraid to even think it—even though she knew it to be true.

I feel so very bad for letting this story fall off... I've just read all of my follwers' reviews and they've touched me. I know it's been a long time, but I have every intention of rebooting this story. Feel free to check back within the week for an update.

I'm sorry for everyone whom I've let down.